Chapter 37 - False Gods

Celaine scurred back as the paladin stomped closer like a demon of black steel.

“Leave her be, Kassius,” Hump shouted. “She’s done. She can’t fight anymore.” He forced himself to stand, practically pulling himself to his feet, using both his staff and the wall for balance. “Don’t do this,” he pleaded.

The Black Paladin’s armour rattled as he stepped forward, his feet like thunder in the silent chamber.

Kassius watched impassively. There was a darkness to his eyes that Hump hadn’t seen before. The façade of a noble prince was gone. Cold, hard eyes now reigned. This was not the man Hump had thought him to be. This was a man that could kill in a heartbeat and not batter an eyelid. Celaine’s life was nothing to him.

Kassius strolled over, eyeing the crystal barrier that now surrounded the dragon and the dungeon core curiously. He tapped it with his sword, chiming it like a bell. Within, the dragon stirred.

Hump gritted his teeth. The bastard didn’t care. Do something, he told himself. He drew a quick breath. You have to try.

He breathed in deeper, searching for some sliver of strength. If Kassius didn’t care, he’d make him. He gathered his will, calling upon the essence within him, searching for the river that ran throughout his body. All he found was icy cold.

The pain sent him to his knees.

He knelt there panting as he leant against his staff, barely able to raise his head. He gasped for breath, his will evaporating as bone chilling cold pervading his body. The cold crept out from his core in slow, chilling tendrils. He could feel them expanding within his body as if they were physical ice, sending uncontrollable shivers through his body. His teeth chattered. Everything hurt. He’d been betrayed by his own body. Betrayed by the man he was prepared to swear allegiance to.

The gods had a sick sense of humour. He gripped his staff with all his strength, frustration storming inside him. But no amount of anger could replace what wasn’t there. Even if he gave himself over to his essence entirely, there was no magic left. He couldn’t do a damned thing.

Celaine fumbled on the ground as the paladin rushed her. He grabbed at her arms, but Celaine was ready for him. She slammed a fist sized stone into the damaged cheek of his helmet. The cavern rang with stone on steel, but the giant of a man didn’t slow. He didn’t care. He grabbed her by the arms and hauled her to her feet.

She screamed, struggling to break free of his grip, kicking and clawing in her efforts to break free. As the paladin tried to bring her arms up behind her back, she managed to twist her right arm out of his grip. With a savage cry, she smashed the stone hard into the side of the paladin’s head.

This time he staggered, his stiff body stumbling like a drunk man that had lost his feet. Hump’s stomach dropped as he caught himself on the boulder Celaine had been hiding behind before, and lumbered back toward her. Everything about him seemed sluggish, almost without thought.

Celaine didn’t wait to give him a second chance to attack her. She screamed as she charged him, smashing a dent into the damaged side of his metal helmet. His head lopped to the side, but Celaine gave him no respite. She hammered down again, this time sending the helmet flying free. Then a final strike upon the Black Paladin’s bare head.

He tumbled back, falling against the boulder, his head swaying from side to side. When he looked back at her, his face could hardly be described as human.

Celaince stepped back, terror on her face. “What are you?”

The only answer she received was his one-eyed stare. In the scarred hole where the other should be, was a black gemstone marked with a single rune that Hump didn’t recognise. Yet somehow, that seemed the least horrifying of his features. His face was fat—lumpy even—and swollen with bruises, giving his skin a purplish tint. And the scars… gods mercy, Hump had never seen anything so terrible. Every patch of his skin had been carved with runes. The lumpy scar tissue was a pale white that left no skin untouched, as if his entire face had been torn apart and stitched back together again.

The one eye that remained was as dead as those of the undead kobolds. No fear or pain, just emptiness. A small mercy, for there was no spark of death magic on him that Hump could sense. As far as his body was concerned, this man was alive.

“Well now you’ve done it,” Kassius scowled. “I leave the helmet on to do the rest of the world a favour. Go on Lucas, get on with it. Apprehend her, I don’t care if it hurts.”

The black paladin stepped forward, face void of emotion. Celaine struck him again, but it was different this time. He caught her arm with his, a vice grip around her wrist. She tried to pull back, eyes going wide as she realised that she couldn’t move him an inch. Then he slapped her. So fast and hard Hump would have missed it if he’d blinked.

He wished he had.

The sound was like an axe on wood. His steel gauntlet might as well have been a hammer. Celaine let out a winded gasp. The stone—her only weapon—clattered to the ground at her feet. Her body slumped, but the paladin held her in place by the arm and pulled her to him. He gripped both arms tightly and pulled them behind her back, pinning them in place there.

“Let go of me.” She struggled weakly. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth and pink already marked her cheek. Even now she was a warrior, more angry than afraid, snarling just as the dragon had. But like Hump, she’d reached the last of her strength. This fight was beyond them. They had lost before it had even started.

“Celaine, I advise you to be still,” Kassius said. “The only reason your heart still beats is because I have not yet decided to end it.”

“Go fuck yourself,” Celaine snarled.

Kassius sighed. “Last chance.”

She opened her mouth.

“Celaine, shut it,” Hump snapped. She glared at him but at least for now she did as she was told.

Hump forced himself to push aside his anger and to think. They couldn’t resist, yet Kassius hadn’t killed them. That meant there was still hope. “Will you let us go?” he asked Kassius.

Kassius looked at him with a slight smile. Amusement? No. He didn’t look happy. If anything, he seemed regretful.

This had never been part of his plan, Hump realised. The pieces fell into place. Kassius was here for the dragon, or the core, or whatever it was, but he had never intended to let the guise of the hero prince slip. Hump and Celaine had just stumbled upon him at the wrong moment. But if he hadn’t intended to kill them before, there was a chance he’d let them live now.

Kassius sighed. “I can’t very well do that now, can I?”

“Sure you can,” Hump said quickly. “Nobody would believe us if we talked.” He licked his lips. This wasn’t the first time he’d talked himself out of a tight spot, though it was by far the tightest spot he’d been in. Hell, he’d take a knife to the throat over Kassius staring at him from across the room. “You’re a bloody prince while I’m barely more than a peasant. Celaine’s a foreigner. If we go up to Oswald and accuse you of anything, we’ll be in the palace dungeons for treason before the month’s end. Nobody would believe us.”

Kassius seemed to consider it a moment, then turned to the crystal shell that surrounded the dungeon core, tapping it with his sword. “Tell me, Hump, what do you make of this?”

Hump bit his cheek. “What does it matter?”

“Humour me.”

Hump glanced at the crystal. Essence filled it, that much was clear to him. It was thicker than the crystal he’d seen around the growing kobolds, and not as clear, but nothing else stood out to him. “The red glow must be because the dungeon core is empowering it with essence.”

Kassius glared at him impatiently. “Anyone could tell me that.” He gestured Hump forward with a wave of his sword, the black veins on the blade drawing his eye. “Come closer. Inspect it and tell me your thoughts.”

Hump frowned. Cautiously, he stepped into the cavern and walked toward Kassius. He glanced at the undead kobolds nervously, huddled together against the wall, not registering his existence. Then back at Celaine. The black paladin had her in an unbreakable grip. They weren’t going to fight their way out of this.

Once he stood in front of the crystal sphere, he glanced at Kassius nearby. The man watched him curiously, giving nothing away on his face, but his stare alone was enough to put Hump on edge. Being this close to Kassius was a death sentence if he wished it to be. The man had fought a dragon, and Hump was exhausted. All it would take was a single swing of that baleful sword.

So he inspected the crystal sphere. He started carefully, tapping it with the butt of his staff as if his very touch might be enough to make it explode. The dragon growled inside. Hump paused, raising his staff on instinct as if to block a sudden attack. Its figure slivered to face him, the distorted image of its head staring through the crystal. Hump stared back at those cold green eyes, as much in fascination as fear.

Kassius laughed. “It’s not coming out. It’s at least mindful enough to know when it’s beat. Get on with it already.”

“Right…” Hump said nervously. He stepped forward again, placing a hand against it. Energy ran through him like a static charge, but it tugged him, pulling at his hand. It was warm to the touch. He felt a pulse to the crystal, like a heart. Essence poured into it, pumped up from all around the dungeon, traveling the thick veins that Hump had seen in the tunnels before.

“It’s gathering essence,” Hump said. The power in the crystal made his earlier shield feel like little more than air in comparison. “I don’t know how you plan to break through something like this. An ordinary weapon wouldn’t scratch it.”

“Fortunately, my weapon is far from ordinary,” Kassius said.

Hump glanced down at the runes on the ground, the ones Kassius had used to bind the dragon. Most he didn’t recognise, but there were a few that were familiar to him. Power. Assimilation. Conversion. He might not understand them all, but he knew enough to guess what Kassius was trying. Of all the times to shake, his spellbook chose that moment. Hump pressed his hand hard against, willing it to stop.

Hump glanced at Kassius. The man didn’t seem to notice, and he needed to keep it that way. He needed to play along and do as the prince wanted. “You’re planning to absorb the dragon’s heartstone.”

Kassius’ lips curled upward and that was all the answer Hump needed.

“You can’t,” Hump said. “It would change you. You would lose what makes you human. There’s a reason that humans don’t absorb heartstones for power.”

“Oh please,” Kassius said. “I’m well aware of the risks.”

“Then why are you asking me this?” Hump asked. “Why do you care what I think?”

“Because you and I are not so different,” Kassius said. “And you might still be useful to me.”

“We’re different,” Hump said under his breath. “You’re a murderer. I’m not.” He couldn’t help himself.  The man was even more insane than he’d realised.

Kassius stared at him; all emotion drained from his face. Hump felt chills run up his spine, as if the man were searching him for something deeper. “Do you understand your predicament? You’re a breath away from death.”

Hump gulped. “I understand.”

“Then why try and provoke me?”

“Wizard’s honour?” Hump said, though the response sounded weak even to him. He was being an idiot, that was why.

Kassius shook his head. “I’m giving you a chance here, Hump. There’s no need for this… defiance. We don’t have to be enemies. In the eyes of the gods, I am just as unworthy of their blessing as you. We are equally abandoned, equally irrelevant, and equally finite. It is in that way that we are the same.  I may be a prince, but I am a prince of ants. Of mortals. I regret the lives I have taken, but they were the lives of small people living purposeless existences. Lives given meaning through death.”

“What meaning?” Hump asked.

Kassius paused, tapping his index finger against the hilt of his sword. “Have you heard the false god theory?”

“I don’t think so.”

“It theorises that the gods are not true gods, but instead mortals that have found a path to a higher state of being. Meaning that once they were mortal like the rest of us.”

“You believe that?” Hump asked.

“I do,” Kassius said. “We are both living proof that one doesn’t need a god to obtain power. That there are other paths outside of being Chosen. But they are paths hidden in secrets, kept out of reach by the so-called gods so that none can challenge their power.”

“Why would they do that?”

“What better way is there to maintain one’s power than to become a god? They grant power to the chosen few, a reward for their worship, and a way to keep the rest of the world in line. Imagine it, Hump. What if the gods are not our creators as they claim, but are instead our oppressors? Holding us back from our rightful place so they may rule over us for eternity.”

Hump frowned. “If you’re right, then who created the world? And why would they care to have mere mortals like us worshiping them?”

“Just because it raises new questions doesn’t make it any less true,” Kassius said. “There is power in faith, perhaps it is for that that they control us. Or perhaps it is merely arrogance.”

“That’s it then?” Hump asked. “You want to be worshiped. You want to be a god. You want immortality.”

“Not just for me.” Kassius smiled. “I simply want to help to open the path. One that anyone can follow. Imagine it boy, life without end. An opportunity that all would have access to, whether man or woman, privileged or poor, Chosen or not.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“We need young wizards like you. Ones with ambition and courage. People that took the power they deserved, not because of a god, but because of their own abilities. The offer I made you still stands. Join me, Hump, and realise your true potential.”

Hump stared at him, his mind swimming. This was too much to take in. Too ridiculous to even consider. “My life is on the line, you made that clear, but you can’t just expect me to believe this. Even if I agree, you’d know I was lying. Wouldn’t the gods simply kill you the moment they discovered your intentions, or send their Chosen to do it for them?”

“They are not omnipotent,” Kassius said. “My paladin is proof of that.”

“What?” Hump asked, stomach sinking.

“It was a terrible thing, honestly,” Kassius said. “I’m not proud of it, but it was necessary. My father was the one that assigned him to me. The great Lucas Fellgreen, my Chosen guard, Paladin of Lady Light and honoured Chosen of the kingdom.”

Hump’s heart thumped. He glanced at the black paladin, the runic scars across his skin, the gemstone in his eye. That couldn’t be possible. He was one of the King’s Chosen.

Kassius arched an eyebrow. “You’ve heard of him then?”

Hump nodded numbly.

“Good. That saves time.” He pointed to the black paladin. “He is proof that even Chosen can be broken. Look at him, Hump. If the gods were invincible, do you think they would have allowed me to enthral one of their Chosen? To break him and bind him and make him my own?”

“Perhaps they have a plan,” Hump said. He didn’t believe it. The gods weren’t watching, it was something he’d figured out a long time ago. They simply didn’t care.

Kassius barked a laugh. “Perhaps. But I am not alone on this path. I’m part of an order whose sole purpose is to uncover the secrets that have long been hidden from us. I’d like you to join us on that journey.”

Hump’s mouth dropped open, then closed again. He was speechless. His first instinct was to argue, to reject the offer outright. The man was a killer. A necromancer. Hump licked his lips, heart racing. The horror Kassius was capable of was visible before his very eyes. He could be facing torture if he resisted, death if he was lucky, and in the worst case he could end up like Lucas Fellgreen.

So was there a point? Why should he resist at all? Kassius was offering him his support: wealth, power, immortality. It was beyond belief. A choice between death and all that seemed hardly a choice. He felt Celaine’s eyes watching him and turned to meet them. She looked tired, afraid, and he could see the anger burning within them. He held them for a moment, then turned away, unable to think clearly. He glanced back down the tunnel they had come from…

And there he saw Vamir. He was nearly out of sight, barely visible in the dull red glow of the tunnel walls, but he was there. He gave Hump a wave and then ducked back into cover.

Then Hump knew what he had to do.

The prince stepped toward him, he towered over Hump, glaring down at him. “It’s time for you to make a decision. I like you, Hump, I wouldn’t give you this opportunity if I didn’t. You have potential, but you are far from unique. I need to know you want it.”

“Right,” Hump said. “Well, I guess we best get on with it then. I’m in, on one condition. You have to spare Celaine. Release her now. Let her leave back down the tunnel we came from, while I stay here with you. Do that, and I’ll be your man till you’re sick of me.”

Kassius sighed. “Commendable. Your bravery, even in the face of death, is admirable. But no, Hump. I never intended for Celaine to leave this chamber alive. She lives for another purpose. There can be no path back after this.” Hump flinched as Kassius pulled a dagger from his belt and held it out to Hump. “If you are to join me, you must kill her.”